Ever since James left the Cavaliers and Durant joined the Nets, the ride-and-roll war we've talked about has gone. The Toronto Raptors, who have been suppressed by Old Jen, have risen again with leonard's arrival. In the 2018-19 season, Leonard led the Raptors out of the East, and the opponent of the Finals was the invincible Golden State Warriors. But the Raptors were lucky, although the Warriors came out of the powerful West, the so-called kill of a thousand self-inflicted losses of eight hundred, at that time the team was suffering a large number of injuries, many players could not play. The Toronto Raptors seized this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and under the leadership of XiaoKa, the Raptors finally defeated the Warriors 4-2 to win the championship. Although the Raptors eventually lifted the O'Brien Cup, many fans will still feel after the game: "Luck accounts for the Raptors to win the championship." ”
There is no doubt that if the Warriors remain healthy, the championship trophy will most likely remain in Golden State. But injuries are part of the game, and the biggest charm of competitive sports lies in his unknown. In the process of winning the championship, Leonard's performance should be credited, but Siakam is also one of the biggest contributors to the championship. But even if the Raptors won the championship, they still failed to keep the heart of the small card in Los Angeles, and the small card left the team with the 3D player Danny Green. After the departure of the small card, many fans looked down on the Raptors, but after the new season of the following year, the Raptors finished with 46 wins and 18 losses, ranking second in the East. The Raptors spoke well with their record, responding to the sunspots' taunts. Many fans will wonder how the Raptors can achieve such results without Leonard's help, in my opinion, thanks in large part to Siakam's excellent performance. Today we will talk about siakam's growth process and estimated future performance.
<h3>Outstanding in college and new to the league</h3>
Born on 2 April 1994 in Douala, Cameroon's Maritime Province, Pascal Siakam is a 206 cm tall, 222 cm arm span and 104 kg weight as a big forward. In 2014, Siakam entered New Mexico State University, where he began a new chapter in his NCAA career. His excellent height and arm span make Siakam, who is highly talented in basketball, look very relaxed and comfortable playing in college. In the 2015-16 season, Siakam averaged 34.6 minutes in 34 games for New Mexico State and averaged 20.2 points, 11.6 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1.0 steals and 2.2 blocks. He has been the second best in school history with a total score of 690, the third in school history with 396 rebounds, and the third in school history with 76 total blocks; he has led all players in the same class with 27 double-doubles in a single season, and has averaged two-doubles and scored more than 20 points per game, he is the first person in the United States!
In the NBA draft, which has never lacked genius, Siakam is still a little less interesting even with such brilliance. Ben Simmons, Ingram, And Jaylen Brown As the names of these people were called out one after another, Siakam swore in his heart that he would work hard to reach the same level as them, or even surpass them. Time passed little by little, until the twenty-seventh pick in the first round, Siakam was plucked by the Raptors, and the hanging heart finally let go. On July 10, 2016, the Raptors officially announced that they had completed a four-year rookie contract with Siakam worth $6.1 million. Pascal Siakam's NBA career officially kicked off in Toronto.
<h3>Poor performance, delegating leveling</h3>
In his rookie season, Siakam's heart was filled with infinite reverie for the NBA, and when he came to the world's most competitive stage, he was ready to show his ambitions, and the real encounter made him wake up from his dream. As a first-year student, he played as the team's starting power forward in 38 of the 55 regular season games he played for the Raptors. But with only a pitiful 15.6 minutes playing, plus having just entered the league, it is not adapted to the intensity of the NBA and is not familiar with the rules. In the middle of the season, Siakam only averaged 4.2 points, 3.4 rebounds, 0.3 assists, 0.5 steals, 0.8 blocks in the final report card, which was relatively bad in the rookie class, and it was also unable to satisfy the team management.
So in the second half of the regular season, Siakam's poor performance in the regular season could not be trusted by the coaching staff. Instead of giving him a dozen minutes or so, send him down to the Development League to level up. The Raptors immediately announced that Siakam was officially delegated to the Raptors 905 team. The young Siakam faced the team's decision without the slightest complaint, and he wanted to win the favor of the team with practical actions. In the Development League, Siakam did his best in every game, listened carefully to the coaching staff and honed every technique. With this attitude, Siakam led his 905 team through the playoffs, facing the Orgland Valley Vipers in the Finals, winning 2-1 and winning the Development League. Siakam was also elected as the MVP of the NBA Development League Finals with his outstanding performance in the Finals.
<h3>Outstanding strength, sit firmly in the starting lineup</h3>
In the following season, team management saw Siakam's efforts and transferred him back from the development league. In the 2017–18 season, Siakam played 81 regular season games for the team. Although he has only started in five games, Siakam can already average 7.3 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2 assists and 0.8 steals in 20.8 minutes per game. Among them, the shooting percentage reached 50.8%. Although such an achievement is not amazing, it can also be seen that Siakam has improved.
By the 18-19 season, the Raptors made a big deal with the Spurs, with DeRozan sending and getting Leonard and Danny Green to join. Such a transaction is not much different from a white gift. The Raptors went from a playoff-level team to a favorite to win the championship. In order to relieve Leonard's defensive pressure, the team also straightened out Siakam, who was very tall and had excellent arm span. Officially becoming the mainstay of the team, Siakam's ball has increased significantly, and the statistics have been further improved. That season, Siakam averaged 16.9 points, 6.9 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 0.9 steals and 0.7 blocks per game. In the more defensive playoffs, it can get 19.0 points, 7.1 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.0 steals, and 0.7 blocks. Under Leonard's leadership, the team worked together and finally lifted the championship trophy!
<h3>Lowry ran away and became the big boss of the team</h3>
Siakam, who is only 27 years old, has finally become a wife from a daughter-in-law, and the departure of Xiao Ka and Lori has given Siakam more space to show his fists and feet. Siakam has had 22 points, 7.2 rebounds and four assists for two consecutive seasons, and you can see his improvement every year. But the Raptors have selected potential rising star Barnes this year, which is to give Siakam a horse, and if you don't play well, it is not certain who the boss of the team is.
I hope that Siakam can shoulder the burden of the team and take every step down-to-earth, only in this way can we lead the team to go further and ensure that we can achieve greater achievements.